Football: Lewandowski joining Bayern only after next season

BERLIN (AFP) - Robert Lewandowski will see out his Borussia Dortmund contract then join Champions League winners Bayern Munich for the 2014/2015 season, turning down offers from English Premier League, according to reports on Monday.

German daily Bild reported that Bayern are only planning on having the 24-year-old Poland striker in their squad for the start of the 2014/2015 season, with Dortmund insisting he will stay until his contract expires on June next year.

"Robert will definitely play for Borussia Dortmund next season. We need some clarity in our planning," Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke told Munich's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper after Lewandowski scored 24 league goals last season and 10 in Europe.

According to Bild, Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is reported to have confirmed to his agent that Lewandowski will join Bayern on a free transfer in June 2014.

With recent reports of interest from England's Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City, Borussia have denied reports they have already tripled Lewandowski's wages.

"That is complete nonsense," Dortmund's director of sport Michael Zorc told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. "It is clear to us that Robert's current salary isn't a correct illustration of the levels of his performances. Therefore we have signalled our readiness to raise his salary."

Having been German champions in both the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 season, Dortmund need to rebuild their title-winning team after midfield star Mario Goetze signed for Bayern for ¤37 million (S$62 million).

Bayern are in no hurry to bring Lewandowski to Munich.

First-choice striker Mario Mandzukic scored 21 goals for the the Bavarian giants, as they became the first German team to win the Treble of league, Cup and European Cup titles.

The Straits Times

We have been experiencing some problems with subscriber log-ins and apologise for the inconvenience caused. Until we resolve the issues, subscribers need not log in to access ST Digital articles. But a log-in is still required for our PDFs.